Process of galvanizing wheel rims



Jam. 16, E923,

1.'. V. MATHER. PROCESS oF GALVANIZING WHEEL RIMS.

FILED Nov. 12.1920,

@noauto/c ewes 7` Maf/zer Patented dan. I6, i923.

intatti arent carica.

LEWIS V. MATHER, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

PROCESS F `GrAlL'V'ANIHIZIING WHEEL RIMS.

Application led November 12, 1920. Serial No. 423,506.

To allwhom t may concern: A

Be it known that I, LEWIS V. MATHER, a citizen of the United States of Americmresidingqat Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes `of Galvanizing Wheel Rims, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawlngs. a

The invention relates to the art ofelec- `trolytic depositions of metal to form a protectlng coating, and the present invention is more particularly designed for `use in the coating of metallic Wheel rims With a protecting metal, although the same method is applicable to other articles. In the present state of the art of'galvanizing or electrotion of the protecting electrolyticfdepositv will subsequently peel off.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to eliminate this pickling process and to effect /the cleaning of the surface chiey by a mechanical processi.l This mechanical cleaning is, however, preferably i combined With a pre-cleansing step in Which the oil or grease on the surface is largely r'emoved.

Another important feature of improve'- Ament is the performance of all of the necessary operations upon the articles to be coated during the continuous advancement of the same, thereby rendering the process automatic. Other featuresjof improvement will be referred to more specifically hereinafter.

In the drawings: i Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sectional elevation of an apparatus for carrying out the method? Figure 2 is a cross section. f Generally described, my imfproved process` comprises the cleanin o -the 'surface to be coated b sand blastlng, the thorough removal of al dust from the sand-blasted surface and in then electrolytically depositing the metal' thereon- In carrying out the process it is 'of advantage to introduce certain auxiliaryvsteps, one of Which is the removal to a large extent of the grease or oil from the .surface of. the metal before the sand blasting operation. As an incident in the manufacture of the wheel rims, or other articles, to be coated, the surface is subjected to oil or grease and most frequently non-saponifying mineral oils are used. Such oils or grease cannot readily be removed by an alkaline bath, but if they are mixed with a saponifying oil or grease and then treated with alkali, all or'the greater part of the grease can be readily removed. One step of. my improved process is therefore the mixi ing with the mineral oils used in connection With the mechanical operations of manufacture a small percentage of vegetable or animal oil, Which is saponifying.

rlhe first step directly connected with the coating process -is the subjecting of the articles to a hot alkaline bath. This is preferably accomplished by feeding the articles successively into, through and out from a vat A containing ahot solution of alkali.

By reason of the fact that the saponidfying oil or grease is mixed with the mineral oil, this alkali treatment will remove the greater part of the grease.

Upon passing out from the alkaline bath the articles are successively fed to a sandblasting apparatus B. This, when .used for vWheel rims, preferably consists of means C for slowly revolving each rim together With a series of sand blasting nozzles D), which are so directed as to entirely cover the perimeter of the cross-section of the rim.

Therefore, after one complete revolution all of the surface will be thoroughly cleaned.

The sand blasting will leave upon the surface a deposit of fine dust, which, if permitted to remain, Would interfere with the adhesionv of the electrolytic metal. I therefore subject each article, after passing out of the sand blasting apparatus, to a Wash,

preferably by needle jets E. The jets are so arranged as to impinge against all portions of the surface during the rotation of the same with the result that all dust is removed.

The rims are then fed into't'he electrolytic 105 bath F and during the time in which they are passing through this bath =they-are in electrical contact-With the cathode and therefore receive vthe electrolytic deposit. The time of treatment is such asv to make a deposit of'llo the desired thickness and during treatment the point of contact With the electrical sur- -is used for the needle Wash previously mentioned, which removes, the dust from the surface. T-he advantage of this step is that the wetting of the surface of the metal With -a Weakelectrolyte prepares the same for the electrolytic deposit as it enters the bath, and

avoids the leaving of any pin holes in the coating metal.

After the needle Wash for removing the electrolyte, the, articles are preferably sub-l jected to 'a second Wash in hot Water and the heat thus communicated to the metal Will effect a quick drying when removed from the bath.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. The methodA of preparing ythe surface of articles for electrolytic deposits, comprising the incorporation of a saponifying oil inthe grease on the surface of the article, subjecting. the article to a caustic alkaline bath and subsequently removing the scale by sand-blasting.

2. The process of. preparing the surface of articles for electrolytic deposits, comprising the incorporation of a saponifying oil in the grease on the surface of the -article, subjecting the article to 'a hot caustic alkaline bath, permitting the .surface of the article to dry, and removing the scale by sand-blasting.

3. The process of preparing the surface of articles for electrolytic deposits, comprising the incorporation of a saponifying oil in the grease on the surface of the article, subjecting the article to a caustic alkaline bath, removing the scale from the surface by'sand-blasting, and thoroughly removing the dust from the sand-blasted surface and immersing in the electrolyte.

4. The process of preparing the surface of articles for electrolytic deposits, comprising sand-blasting the surface, subjecting the blasted surface to the impact of a liquid stream to thoroughly remove the dust and.`

to Wet the surface and electrolyte.

immersing in the 5. The process of preparing the surface of articles for electrolytic deposits, compris-,

ing sand-blasting' the surface tnol remove the scale therefrom, subjecting the blasted surface to the impact of a stream lof dilute electrolyte to remove the dust and to. Wet

the surface, and immersing in the electrolytic bath.

6L The process of preparing the surface of 'Wet surface into the Washing off the adhering electrolyte from' articles for electrolytic deposits, comprising subjecting the article to the action of a plurality of sand-blast jets, together covering all portions of the cross-sectional contour, and progressively advancing the area pf operation to covervall portions of the surace.

ing subjecting a zone of the surface to the action of a plurality of sand-blast jets, to-

'gether covering all portions of said zone,

'9. The process of preparing the surfacek of annular articles for electrolytic deposits, comprising the subjecting of a zone of the surface to the action of a plurality of sandblast jets, together covering all portions of the surface of said zone, and revolving the annular article to progressively advance theV zone of4 application until the entire surface is covered.

A 10. .The process of preparing Wheel rims lfor electrolytic deposits, comprising subjecting the rim to the action of a pluralitylof sand-blast jets, together completely covering a zone of thel rim, and rotating the rim to progressively advance the, zone of treatment until the entire surface is covered.

11. The process of electrolytically coat- The process of preparing the surface of. Y articles for electrolytic deposits, comprising the surface of articles, comprising sand- `blasting the surface thereof to remove scale therefrom, subjecting the surface to a liquid stream of dilute electrolyte to remove all dust, and to Wet the surface, immersing the article While'the surface thereof is Wet into the electrolytic bath, and forming .the-i de.- posit thereon, washing the adhering electrolyte from the surface of the coated arti. cle, and utilizing the wash Water for the .v cleaning and wetting of the surface.

' 12.."1`he process of forming electrolytic deposits onarticles, comlprising incorporating thesaponifying oil in the grease adhering to the surface of the article, immersing the article in hot caustic alkaline solution,

permitting the surface to dry, sand-blasting the surface to remove all scale therefrom, subjecting the surface to a liquid stream of diluteelectrolyte, immersing the the article removedfrom the-"bath, an utilizing the wash vwater for wetting ande ing the surface of other articles. 's

electrolytic. E.'bjath,

13.- The` method of preparing the surfaceA of articles for electrolyticldeposits,compris Salif ing the incorporation of a saponifying oil in the grease on the surface of the article in the grease on the surface of the article subjecting the article to a caustic alkaline and subjecting the article to a caustic alkaline bath.

14. The method of preparing the surfacelture. of articles for electrolytic deposits, comprising the incorporation of a saponifying oil Lewis V. MTHER.

bath and subsequently removing the scale.

In testimony whereof l ax my signa-v 

